MONDAY NIGHT PREVIEW
Neither the Dallas Cowboys nor Tennessee Titans score much. Dallas ranks 26th in the NFL (20.0 points per game), Tennessee 30th (15.1).
And neither team allows many points, especially in the red zone.
The two teams, both coming off byes, play Monday night (5:15 p.m. EST, TSN via ESPN). Expect a close, low-scoring tilt.
The Titans lead the NFL in red-zone defence, allowing touchdowns just a third of the time an opponent crosses their 20-yard line (6-of-18). The Cowboys rank right behind them, with a 36.8 percentage (7-of-19).
In overall scoring defence, Dallas ranks behind only Baltimore, in allowing just 17.6 points per game. Tennessee ranks third, at 18.1.
The Titans offence has struggled this season even more than the Cowboys’. It’s amazing the Titans have won three games. They’re 3-4, just a game-and-ahalf behind AFC South-leading Houston. Tennessee’s wins came in consecutive weeks in September, all by three points: 20-17 over Houston, 9-6 over Jacksonville and 26-23 in overtime over Philadelphia.
In their three October games, all losses, the Titans scored only 31 points.
Dallas (3-4) had such a tough time in a loss at Washington two weeks ago that the club fired offensive line coach Paul
Alexander, to try to shake things up on that side of the ball. Marc Colombo replaces him, with the assistance of newly hired consultant Hudson Houck, a long-time NFL O-line coach.
“I don’t think it’ll be that much of a change,” Dallas offensive tackle La’el
Collins said, per DallasCowboys.com.